Kölzig was born in South Africa but grew up in several cities across Canada; his family moved to Union Bay, British Columbia when he was a teenager. Kölzig never applied for Canadian citizenship, which, combined with his German parentage and German passport, allowed him to represent Germany internationally.[1] He was the first African-born player in the NHL.

Kölzig played his first NHL game in the 1989–90 NHL season, only to be sent down to the minors for a few years. In 1995–96, he was brought up to be a backup for Jim Carey and remained so when the Capitals acquired Bill Ranford from the Boston Bruins during 1996–97. Early in the next season, Ranford suffered an injury and Kölzig was became the starter, at least temporarily. Kölzig played well for the rest of the season, winning a total of 33 games and achieving a 2.20 goals against average. He remained the starting goaltender for the Capitals until the 2008 trading deadline, and holds virtually every franchise record at his position.[citation needed]

In 2000, he won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goalie after going 41–20–11 with a 2.24 GAA and five shutouts.[citation needed] Kölzig also has the distinction of being one of four goaltenders to play a scoreless period during an NHL All-Star Game, having done so at the 2000 All-Star Game.[citation needed] He also played in the 1998 All-Star Game, in which he made 14 saves on 17 shots.

On February 11, 2006, Kölzig signed a two-year, $10.9 million extension with the Capitals.

Olaf Kölzig 2008

In February 2007, in the midst of a 19–19–5 season, Kölzig tore his medial collateral ligament (MCL). Prior to this injury, Kölzig had missed only 18 games and never more than four in a row.[3]

In February 2008, the Capitals acquired goalie Cristobal Huet, who gradually took over Kölzig's position as starting goaltender. Despite this, on March 12 Kölzig became the twenty-third goalie to win 300 games.[citation needed] The Capitals qualified for the playoffs, and Huet started every game in their first round series against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Capitals lost in seven games. A few weeks after their elimination, Kölzig announced he did not intend to return to the team.[4] At the time, he was the last remaining Capital to have worn the original red, white and blue uniform and the blue jersey from 1995.[citation needed]

On July 1, 2008, Kölzig became an unrestricted free agent and signed a $1.5 million, 1-year contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning.[5] He served as the back-up goalie to Mike Smith. In Kolzig's return to D.C. he was loudly cheered and a video in tribute to his time with the Caps was shown.[6] On January 28, 2009, it was announced that Kölzig would miss the rest of the 2008–09 season due to a ruptured biceps tendon in his left arm.[7]

He was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs along with Jamie Heward, Andy Rogers and a 4th round pick on March 4, 2009 as part of a trade deadline deal for Richard Petiot.[8] As he was at that time suffering from an injury that would see him out for the rest of the 2008–09 season, the end of which would also see his contract expire, his acquisition from Tampa Bay was largely seen as an effort by Toronto General Manager Brian Burke to "buy" the 4th round pick by taking on Kölzig's deadweight salary.

Kölzig is known for his service off the ice as well as his accomplishments on the ice. Along with fellow NHLers Byron Dafoe and Scott Mellanby, he founded Athletes Against Autism to "raise awareness" of autism and encourage more research, as well as the Carson Kolzig Foundation for Youth Autism in honor of his son, who is autistic. Because of his local and national service, he was awarded the NHL's King Clancy Memorial Trophy for humanitarian service in 2006 and was named one of the 10 Washingtonians of the Year by Washingtonian Magazine in 2000.[11] In 2004, the Capitals held a vote for fans to determine the top 30 players in the franchise history to celebrate their 30th season in the league. Kölzig's 2,038 votes led all players.[citation needed]